TPCF 99

CHAPTER 99…………………………..

It meant that you can’t throw away something you never owned to begin with — but since Finian seemed to interpret it differently, his face brightened a little.

“Really?”

Anita wanted to smack herself for feeling relieved earlier that, thanks to Finian, she didn’t have to be alone with Rutger. He was terribly noisy. No, if being noisy were all there was to it, that might have been a relief.

He kept picking fights with her nonstop. It was probably because of Rutger. When Rutger stood silently on her right side, Finian had started talking to her, and that was when the trouble began.

“Hey, do you even know what a fox is?”

Finian asked in a tone that clearly meant to tease her. Annoyed, Anita snapped back sharply.

“Of course. It belongs to the phylum Chordata, class Mammalia, order Carnivora, family Canidae!”

“Chord… what?”

Finian gave her a confused look.

“Phylum Chordata.”

“What’s that?”

“I guess they didn’t teach biology in Fenon Hall?”

Anita retorted curtly, then turned her head when she heard a low chuckle beside her. Rutger was watching the two of them, lips slightly curved in amusement. She didn’t even know when he’d started paying attention.

“No one’s ever seen Finian study anyway.”

As Rutger spoke, Finian stared right back at him.

“Besides, there really wasn’t a biology teacher at Fenon Hall.”

“Why not?”

Anita’s question was answered by Finian, who motioned for her to come closer. She leaned in without thinking.

“They got caught with something very secret and dangerous. Want to know what it was?”

Anita nodded.

“What else? Drugs. You’re so naïve.”

Finian burst out laughing as if he found himself hilarious, while Anita’s face filled with disappointment. She hadn’t really expected it, but since Finian had made such a fuss, she thought maybe he’d tell her something about alchemy or some strange experiment. She glared at him.

“So that’s all?”

“……”

Anita shook her head and started walking again. After a while, the bush in front of her rustled, and something small jumped out.

“Ah!”

Startled, Anita jumped back.

“Wh-what is that?”

She pointed at the creature with a trembling finger, but unlike her, the two boys looked calm.

“It’s a fox.”

“…What?”

Only then did Anita take a proper look. A tiny black nose, glossy red fur, and a soft white chest.

To think she’d been so startled by a fox. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. But being Rutger’s friend, Finian wasn’t about to pass up a chance to tease her.

“You said you knew all about foxes, didn’t you?”

“…I said I knew about them, not that I could recognize one right away.”

Even to her own ears, it sounded like a pathetic excuse.

“You’re scared of a fox, but you still sit through anatomy lectures?”

Rutger joined in, looking amused.

“Those don’t jump out of bushes at you.”

It was good, at least, that Rutger had gotten some of his energy back — even if he was using it to tease her. He’d been gloomy lately, not even happy to see Finian again after such a long time.

The last day at Lifton Villa dawned. Since coming there, the only things Anita had done were collect seashells on the beach and go on a fox hunt that ended rather anticlimactically.

The wide-open view of the sea and the grand villa were wonderful, but Anita missed her home in Rohen — her room crammed with books, the tree growing outside her window.

Of course, if she went back, her father would probably make her copy twenty pages of text by hand as punishment. But she didn’t really mind.

“A yacht? Sorry, I’ll pass.”

Lilliana and her friends planned to spend their last day on a yacht. Anita felt bad refusing her invitation, but she didn’t want to get on a rocking boat in the middle of the sea. And, just like in the car, if she fainted or got seasick, she’d only be a nuisance to Lilliana.

“Oh right, you said you didn’t like water. I forgot.”

Lilliana looked a little disappointed, then remembered what Anita had told her before and smiled awkwardly. When Lilliana and her group disappeared, Anita sank into the nearby sofa.

The weather was too nice to stay cooped up in her room, so she’d come to the drawing room with the huge windows. Sunlight streamed in through the glass wall, warming her face. She sprawled lazily on the couch, basking in the quiet and the warmth, her blinks growing slower and slower as sleep crept in.

Just before she drifted off, she heard footsteps in the hallway.

She figured whoever it was would just pass by the drawing room and kept her eyes closed.

But the steps came closer. Everyone else had gone with Lilliana, so Anita assumed it was one of the servants and sat up — she didn’t want to get in anyone’s way.

As she ran her fingers through her hair, mussed from the sofa cushion, she froze. The person standing at the entrance to the room was unexpected.

“…Finian?”

“Just stay seated. You’re not leaving, are you?”

He gestured cheerfully toward her. Dazed, Anita sat back down.

“Wanna do a puzzle?”

“Oh, sure. Why not.”

She had nothing better to do anyway, so she accepted his offer.

“But hey, aren’t you going to ask?”

“Ask what?”

Anita asked absently, studying the puzzle piece in her hand and trying to find where it fit.